Pleasant Valley High senior and Oregon State commit Tyler Collier used his intricate knowledge of Bidwell Park Golf Course to fire a 2-under 70 Thursday at the penultimate Eastern Athletic League meet of the season under overcast skies and nearly perfect weather.

"I know what holes I can be aggressive on and what holes I need to be a little bit more conservative," Collier said, "so with that course knowledge I can kind of outsmart the course a little bit."

His 70 was not only the best round of the day but Collier also was the lone golfer to break par on either side with his two 35s.

Vikings teammate Darren Fegley finished right on the number with a pair of 36s, helping PV win both nine-hole competitions and all but wrap up the EAL title.

The Vikings totaled a 189 on the front nine and 188 on the back. Freshman Noah Norton, the reigning Chico City Championship winner, fired a 75 that included an eagle on the 517-yard, par-5 18th to salvage a 37 after he opened with a 38.

Adding in Aaron Vought's 38-41 for a 79 and Corey McFarland's 42-39 for an 81, PV had enough to beat Chico on the front nine 189 to 203 and again on the back 188 to 196.

The Vikings, who hosted Thursday's match, came in with 17 points to Chico's 13. But with three points, one awarded for each opponent bested on each nine-hole portion, PV left with 23 points and Chico had 17. That means the Panthers would not only have to win next week in the May 1 meet at Canyon Oaks Country Club, but PV would also have to finish last.

The scores from Thursday and the season show that isn't about to happen. After Chico's second-place marks, Las Plumas earned its first point of the season with a 257 front nine and Paradise, which had been a consistent third this season, was in that same spot on the back nine at 238.

Chico's top two golfers didn't have the day they wanted as Taylor Manna scrambled his way to a 79 on a 40 and 39, and Cooper Koslofsky found some momentary highlights on his way to a 75 after a 37 and 38.

For Manna, whose lone birdie came on No. 8, the best thing about Thursday was that an off-day didn't happen to fall on the day of the division or section meets.

"I had a couple of scrambled saves, but it was just one of those days," said Manna, a senior who has dueled with Collier for individual honors over their prep careers. "I put myself in bad position on the approaches and just couldn't recover."

Koslofsky was in line with his teammate.

"I just kind of held on for dear life," Koslofsky said. "If it wasn't a par putt, I wasn't making it."

He chipped in from about 35 feet on the par-4 13th for one of his three birdies, all on the final 10 holes.

Collier, though started fast, including a birdie on No. 1, a 368-yard, par-4 hole.

"I had a good drive that set me up for it, and then made the putt so that was nice," Collier said. "Hit it close to the next couple of holes, which gave me chances to make birdies early."

Collier — who was consistently longer off the tee than the rest of the top group that included Norton, Manna and Koslofsky — credited his work with the putter for Thursday's score.

He went on to birdie Nos. 1, 5 and 8 on the front nine and 11 and 17 on the back.

While Norton wasn't thrilled with an uneven performance as he's still seeking to regain the touch he had prior to breaking his right wrist three days after winning the Chico City title on Sept. 29, he found plenty of solace with his eagle. He used a 5-iron from about 190 yards out to get within 10 feet of the hole.

"I had some rough holes and some pretty good holes. It was a lot better score with that eagle," Norton said. "I'm not all the way back, but I'm getting better every day."